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Dempo, a club with a rich history that includes five National Football League and I-League Championships titles, made their highly-anticipated return to the 2024-25 I-League to start off with a draw
I-League teams in action (X)
Despite playing with 10 men for over 30 minutes, Namdhari FC held on for a hard-fought goalless draw against Delhi FC in the I-League here on Saturday.
Delhi FC failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage, as they squandered several chances in the second-half to break the deadlock at the Namdhari Stadium.
Namdhari, who suffered a red card to Francis Addo in the 61st minute, dominated the first-half, creating multiple opportunities but were unable to finish.
Delhi, on the other hand, grew into the game after the red card but struggled to make the most of their extra player, leaving both sides with a point each.
Namdhari started the game on the front foot, dictating the pace and creating the first notable chance.
In the 12th minute, Manvir Singh was all set to flick a cross from the right, but Delhi FC goalkeeper Lalmuansanga came up with a crucial save.
Shortly after this, Namdhari’s Brazilian recruit Vicente Mercedes unleashed a shot from the middle of the box, but it was blocked by a Delhi FC defender.
The rebound fell to Vicente’s fellow Brazilian Cledson Dasilva Degol, who fired wide of the target.
Namdhari kept up the pressure as Gursimrat Singh narrowly missed an opportunity to find the target with a header, but the ball deflected into the path of Lalmuansanga, who once again made an important stop.
Two minutes later, Vicente nearly broke the deadlock after a neat setup from Degol, but his effort hit the near post.
Despite Namdhari’s dominance, Delhi FC grew into confidence as the match progressed.
The hosts suffered a setback in the 61st minute when Addo was shown the red card for a clumsy challenge on Delhi’s Samir Binong, thus reducing Namdhari to 10 men.
With the numerical advantage, Delhi FC began to assert themselves and created several opportunities.
Bali Gagandeep and substitute Stephane Binong, who is from Cameroon, combined well, but both squandered their chances, leaving their side frustrated.
In the dying moments, Delhi’s Himanshu Jhangra nearly found the target with a low shot, but the near post denied him a goal. Despite Delhi’s late surge, Namdhari defence held firm, ensuring the game ended in a stalemate.
The other match of the day, played in Aizawl between Aizawl FC and newly-promoted Dempo SC, also ended in a goal-less draw.
After a nine-year-long hiatus, Dempo, a club with a rich history that includes five National Football League and I-League Championships titles, made their highly-anticipated return to the 2024-25 I-League following their successful promotion campaign last season.
Aizawl FC, though, were the more dominant side in the first half of the match. Buoyed by the support of the home crowd, they aggressively pushed forward, resulting to seven corners within the first 45 minutes.
However, Aizawl failed to capitalise on these set-piece opportunities, much to the disappointment of their fans.
Aizawl also explored long-range efforts to breach the Dempo defence. The first significant attempt came from Lalhriatpuia, who unleashed a powerful strike from 25 yards out. However, Dempo goalkeeper Ashish Sibi was up to the challenge, skilfully fisting the shot away in the 38th minute.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – PTI)
